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LEE Chong Wei and Hafiz Hashim advanced to the third round of the Taiwan Open in convincing fashion on a day where seven out of 12 Malaysians crashed out.

Chong Wei, the second seed, beat Indonesia's Ari Yuli Wahyu 21-10, 21-16 in the first round and later beat Yousuke Nakanishi of Japan 21-10, 21-12.

Lee Chong Wei beat Ari Yuli Wahyu 21-10, 21-16 in the first round and Yousuke Nakanishi 21-10, 21-12 in the second round yesterday.

Hafiz avoided any setbacks when he edged Japan's Koichi Saeki 21-18, 21-19 in his opening match and later registered a 21-9, 21-14 win over Liao Sheng Shiun of Taiwan.

Hafiz Hashim beat Koichi Saeki 21-18, 21-19 in the first round and then beat Liao Sheng Shiun 21-9, 21-14 to advance to the third round yesterday.

Chong Wei should not face any problem overcoming Ng Wei of Hong Kong today to secure his quarter-final berth but Hafiz will face a difficult task when he meets Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia.

Hafiz's only consolation is that Taufik struggled to beat Thailand's Poompat Sapkulchananart 26-24, 19-21, 21-18 yesterday but it remains to be seen if Hafiz can take advantage of his rival's average form. Wong Choong Hann and Yeoh Kay Bin confirmed Malaysia a quarter-final spot as they will play each other in the third round.

Kay Bin did well to upset Singapore's Ronald Susilo 21-18, 15-21, 23-21 in the first round and earned his third round spot with a 21-15, 21-14 win over Lee Chen Yen of Taiwan.

Also through to the third round is Sairul Amar Ayub who beat Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand 15-21, 21-17, 21-14 before overcoming Netherlands' Dicky Palyama 21-9, 21-12 in the second round. Sairul will meet Shoji Sato of Japan next.

Roslin Hashim was only senior player to fall in the first round when he was beaten 21-13, 21-18 by Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand.

Project 2010-2012 player Lim Kenn put on a decent performance against top seed Chen Hong of China before losing 23-21, 23-21 while another back-up player Chan Kwong Beng fell 8-21, 21-14, 23-21 to Chan Yan Kit of Hong Kong.

National juniors Arif Latif and Lim Fang Yang managed to clear the first round but found the going tough in the second. Arif defeated Korean Lee Cheol Ho 21-18, 21-14 in his opening match but was beaten 21-9, 21-10 by Simon Santoso of Indonesia, while Lim Fang Yang, who beat Philippines' Kennevic Asuncion 19-21, 21-15, 21-13, lost 22-20, 21-19 to Sato.